1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a load detector and transport equipment including such a load detector. More specifically, the present invention relates to a load detector which electromagnetically detects a load acting directly on a magnetic member, and also relates to transport equipment including such a load detector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional art in this category is disclosed in JP-A 11-241955 and JP-A 2001-281074, which are hereinafter referred to as Patent Documents 1 and 2, respectively.
Patent Document 1 discloses a load detector which includes a detection portion having a coil and a magnetic member defined by a solid rod disposed at an axial center of the coil. The coil magnetizes the magnetic member, a load is applied directly to the magnetic member, and the load is detected from a resulting inductance change.
Patent Document 2 discloses a load detector provided with an overload prevention mechanism which enables a magnetostrictive load sensor to detect a load accurately without being affected by an overload.
However, according to these conventional techniques, it is sometimes impossible to transmit the load axially to the magnetostrictive sensor without axial displacement or tilt. If such axial displacement or tilt occurs, an output voltage which is a response to the input load becomes unstable.